A pair of NASA astronauts are scheduled to do a 6.5 hour spacewalk on the morning of June 13 outside the International Space Station.

At 8 a.m. Eastern time, astronauts Tracy C. Dyson and Matthew Dominick are expected to enter the vacuum of space to perform station maintenance and science work.

NASA said the two will remove some communications equipment from one of the ISS' laboratory modules, getting help from a robotic arm on the station. Astronauts Mike Barratt and Jeanette Epps will be maneuvering the Canadarm2 to assist Dyson and Dominick in their work.

Then, Dyson and Dominick will move on to a science experiment involving microorganisms. They will swab surfaces on the ISS to "determine if microorganisms released through station vents can survive the external microgravity environment," NASA said in a statement.

NASA TV will begin its spacewalk broadcast at 6:30 a.m. Thursday. Live coverage will air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency's website.

Among those watching the spacewalk up close will be Butch Whitmore and Suni Williams, the crew of the Boeing Starliner which launched from the Kennedy Space Center on June 5 en route to the ISS.